The Trench

A First World War Centenary commemorative event at Levant Mine

Levant Mine. Front Line.

The 1st July 2016 marks the 100th anniversary of the first day of the Battle of the Somme. On this one day alone in 1916 the British casualties totalled nearly 58,000 troops, with over 19,000 killed.

As part of the First World War Centenary commemoration a remarkable event will take place near the cliff tops at Levant Mine in Cornwall. Organised by Collective Arts Ltd, a theatre company that specialises in large scale community productions, The Trench explores and celebrates the lives of Cornish miners serving on the Front Line during the First World War.

This theatrical experience will simulate life in the trenches using an area of ‘No Man’s Land’ landscape at Levant Mine. Audience members will become participants who ‘enlist’ and are given a real identity, taken to the trenches and discover for themselves the realities of life on the Western Front and the build up to going over the top.

The experience will culminate in the mess tent, where participants will discover the real-life fate of their assigned character in a fascinating exhibition curated by the National Trust.

The project is a partnership between Levant Mine and the National Trust, Cornish Mining World Heritage Site, Miracle Theatre, Tremough University and local schools in Penwith. Research is well underway and locals in Penwith, the St Just and Pendeen Old Cornwall Society, along with students from Tremough are helping uncover information relevant to the production.

Performance dates are from Friday 1st July through to Sunday 10th July 2016 inclusive. Please note there is no performance on Monday 4th July 2016. This production only runs for 9 days and is limited to 60 people maximum per performance. It is advised to book early and tickets will be on sale early 2016.

Not suitable for under 12 years or the faint of heart. Sturdy footwear and warm clothing essential!!!

Enlist! Kit, rations and identity provided. Join a Cornish regiment, survive in the trench, and go over the top and into No Man’s Land. Participants are encouraged to be courageous under fire, and above all, to return.

Generously funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund, Arts Council England, Cornish Mining World Heritage Site, FEAST and the National Trust.

The brief line ‘Courage does not count here’ is part of a letter one soldier wrote before he was killed that encapsulated the terrible conditions on the Western Front – ‘Courage does not count here. It is all nerve. Once that goes…’

5 Comments

Hugely sorry for the ridiculously long wait before replying to you – I’ve only just managed to get back into the website after a password error (by me!) and have seen your message. The videos are online. If you enter ‘the trench levant mine’ into a search engine and click on videos this should take you to the page which houses all the performance dates of The Trench. Thank you again for supporting the event, and just to let you know that we will be producing another similar event in partnership with the Cornwall Regimental Museum in the summer of 2018 to mark the end of the war. This time audiences enlist at the museum, travel by Bodmin & Wenford railway to the front line and have a similar trench experience before returning to the museum. There will be an accompanying exhibition, and a selection of different plays each night at the museum itself focusing on various aspects of the war. More details in the press in the next few months.
Kind regards and profuse apologies again,
Jason Squibb
Artistic Director for Collective Arts Ltd

Ian Furley (tickets bought by strickland(
on September 8, 2016 at 8:04 pm

Thoroughly enjoyed thhe trench experience on Tuesday 5th July. Many congratulations to all that took us on this thoufht proving and emotional journey. Looking forward to seeing film footage taken on the night. When and where will this be available?

Hugely sorry for the ridiculously long wait before replying to you – I’ve only just managed to get back into the website after a password error (by me!) and have seen your message. The videos are online. If you enter ‘the trench levant mine’ into a search engine and click on videos this should take you to the page which houses all the performance dates of The Trench. Thank you again for supporting the event, and just to let you know that we will be producing another similar event in partnership with the Cornwall Regimental Museum in the summer of 2018 to mark the end of the war. This time audiences enlist at the museum, travel by Bodmin & Wenford railway to the front line and have a similar trench experience before returning to the museum. There will be an accompanying exhibition, and a selection of different plays each night at the museum itself focusing on various aspects of the war. More details in the press in the next few months.
Kind regards and profuse apologies again,
Jason Squibb
Artistic Director for Collective Arts Ltd